Chapter 14

She didn’t think she’d ever seen Lou move so fast. One minute she’d been on his lap, the next he had her hurrying toward his back bedroom. He slammed the door shut and locked it. “Sorry, habit.”

Before she could ask what that meant, he had his shirt off and his pants unzipped.

“Take me out.”

She shook her head, surprising herself at her temerity. “I want to… Can you take off all your clothes?”

His slow smile answered for him. He stripped, completely bare. “Now you.” But before she could take off her clothes, Lou was there doing it for her.

“First, the shirt.” He dragged it up and off her, then tossed it to a chair in his bedroom. She’d only been back here the one time before, and it had been mostly dark then. Now she made out a thick leather chair in the corner, a large king-size bed in the center, and an armoire to the side. Nothing else in the room save the nightstands on either side of the bed.

Where he kept his condoms.

She tingled, especially when Lou watched her as he unfastened her bra and tugged it off her. He had a thing for her breasts, because he spent a lot of time touching and kissing them. She’d never realized how much she liked it. He was about to show her again.

He picked her up as if she weighed nothing and sucked her nipple into his mouth. He groaned as he tongued and teethed, then treated the other side to the same attention. Panting with lust, she could barely think as he set her down. Then his clever hands had her pants unfastened, her jeans pushed down to her ankles.

Lou bent down to remove the rest of her clothes, then stood and studied her. “I need to draw you. To paint you.” He licked his lips. “You are so beautiful, Joey.”

She blushed with pleasure. “So are you.” She loved the chance to see those tattoos, the subtle artwork crossing his broad chest, tracing the cut of muscle on his darker skin and trailing it downward, to the long, thick cock made hard because of her.

It thrilled her to know she could get a man like Lou, older and sexier, to want her so much.

“You still hungry, baby?” He gripped himself, holding himself out to her. “I’ll show you what I like. Stand here. Spread your legs.”

“What?”

He was on his knees in front of her in seconds, his mouth plastered to her sex as he licked and stroked her nearly to orgasm. Had he not stopped when he did, she’d have come.

“You see? Hunger. I want to taste that cream you make for me. So soft, silky.” He slid a finger inside her, holding her still by the hip when she jerked.

“Lou,” she moaned. “I was going to—”

“After. You suck me down after I taste you. So fuckin’ good.” He kissed her again, toying with her clit while he moved his thick finger in and out, rubbing against her in all the places that mattered. She held tightly to his shoulders, her body spiraling out of control.

“Lou, I’m going to… I need to…”

He sucked her harder and continued to thrust in and out of her. Then he stroked a finger between her buttocks, rubbing her cleft while he drew on her clit with a love bite.

Joey couldn’t stop the rush of ecstasy as she came over his tongue, moaning while pleasure became her world. Dimly aware of Lou petting her through it, she found herself in his arms being hugged and kissed and tasted herself on his lips.

When he pulled back, she gazed at him in wonder. “I taste me.”

He nodded, his intensity so focused, she trembled in the face of it. She felt his erection against her belly, so hard for her still. “You taste like cream. So soft, so sweet. I could eat you for days.” He continued to murmur things even as he wrapped her hand around his cock and let her pump him before he groaned and made her let go.

“On your knees for me.” He spread his stance wider, his hand on her shoulder. And the dominant pose only added to the fantasy she’d had of them doing this.

She had to stand on her knees to reach him, and he frowned. “Don’t move.” He fetched a pillow from his bed, then returned and had her kneel on that. “Better?”

She nodded, unable to look away from him.

“You good with this?” he asked, stroking her hair. “I told you I was clean, but you have to trust me on that.”

She glanced away from his impressive size to see his sober expression. And right then, she knew. Against all odds, having just come to know the man, really, she did. “I trust you, Lou. You’d never hurt me like that.”

“I’d never hurt you at all,” he whispered. “Unless you asked me to.” He winked.

She sighed, so caught up in the man, she would do anything to see him feel what she just had. Without asking, without looking away from his face, she leaned close, rested a hand on his hip, and felt him tense. Then she stuck out her tongue and licked the tip of him.

Lou looked so tense she feared he’d break. His muscles all bunched, and the veins on his forearms stood in relief.

“Again,” he barked, his grip on her hair tightening.

Knowing he liked it, she did it again, lapping at him like a kitten to milk.

The flow of Spanish and the rocking of his hips told her she’d done well. But after that, she had no real idea of what to do next. Sucking on him seemed the answer, and she’d seen women do that in the movies, so it had to be right. But Lou was thick, and her jaw didn’t stretch that wide, she didn’t think.

Joey held him by the root to keep him still, then put her mouth over him.

“Madre de Dios, yes. Fucking blow me, baby. Oh yeah,” he moaned as she took more of him inside. She hadn’t gone a third of the way down when her jaw started to ache. How did women do this?

“Easy. Let me help,” he rasped. He held her by the hair and withdrew, then pushed in again. Slowly, he started moving in and out of her mouth, telling her how to lick, to stroke. He had her cup his balls, which he seemed to love, because he jolted and thrust deeper in response.

“Lo siento,” he apologized, hoarse, and immediately pulled back. “Damn, but I’m not going to last.” He groaned.

She rubbed him, held the weight of his balls in her hand, and stroked the hard globes covered in such soft skin. He had hair there, but not much. Like the rest of his body, Lou had a smoothness, a sleekness to him. Even the hair around his cock had been trimmed, which made him look huge.

Not that he tried to look that way. He was huge.

She wanted to take more of him. So while cupping him, she leaned closer, and his hands in her hair slackened. She bobbed over him, taking more, learning the feel of him. Her jaw still ached, but she felt more used to the size of him. His girth, at least. She still couldn’t completely take all of him in her mouth without gagging.

“More, more,” he chanted. “Gonna come, baby. So hard. You don’t want it down your throat, pull away and I’ll come on your tits.” He was talking so dirty, so lost in her, and she loved it. No tender care, no treating her like a fragile princess. He was a man with needs she was taking care of. No fumbling teenager, Lou took her like a man possessed.

“Coming,” he warned, and she bore down, sucking him even deeper into her mouth while he moaned her name.

He held her head steady as warmth filled her mouth. She swallowed as he emptied, wanting all of Lou. Not that watching him release wouldn’t be erotic, but knowing she’d made him lose himself in her gave her a sense of accomplishment. Of being a real woman, one who grew aroused feeling him orgasm.

He had a lot to give, and she swallowed him down until he finally withdrew.

He yanked her to her feet and tossed her on the bed. She yelped as she bounced on the mattress. But then Lou was there, on top of her, kissing her until she once again lost herself in him.

He stroked her, petting her breasts, her belly, then her sex, sliding his fingers between her legs while he came down off his euphoric high.

“Jesus. You blew me away.” He chuckled and kissed her throat. “So good, baby. God, I’ll never forget the sight of you licking my cock.” He shivered. “You have no idea how many times I imagined that. And it was never so good as you doing it.” He shoved her back and leaned over her, not yet ready to take her again, unfortunately.

Joey was ready to go, but Lou seemed soft against her.

“Got you wet blowing me, didn’t it?” He smiled.

“Yes.” She sighed. “I was already relaxed from when you, um, blew me.”

“You were so sweet.” He seemed smug. “You like me kissing that pretty pussy, don’t you?”

She blushed.

“Yeah, you like me eating you out. Going down on you. But baby, it’s nothing on watching my dick in your mouth. Me fucking those lips.” He rubbed himself against her. “I want to fuck you again. Right now. But I need some time. You sucked me dry.” He laughed at her blush. “Come on. You like when I talk like this, no?” He leaned close, his hot breath over her ear, and whispered, “That pussy hungry for me? Those tits ready for some biting? You know how hard you make me, all the time?”

She groaned. “Shouldn’t I be too tired to want you again?”

“Nah. You’re a young, sexy woman with drive. I just need a few minutes, and I’ll be ready to take you. And princesa, I’ll give it to you so good. Only thing better would be no condom. Because jetting into your mouth… Fuck me, best thing I ever felt.”

“Really?”

“Really. The condom is good for protection, but I can’t feel like I can when it’s just you and me. But I’ll wear it, no problem.”

She wanted to tell him to take it off, to feel him inside her. But worries about making babies persisted. “No. I think you should wear it. Not because I don’t trust you, but…”

“I know. Babies. Got to think about that.” He palmed her belly and got a strange look on his face. “And much as I’d love to be in you, the pullout method ain’t the best.”

“No.” Not that she’d ever tried that one. Her mistake had been trusting that Felix had known what he was talking about when he’d calculated and said it was the right time to make love and not worry about conception. As if the boy had known about her cycle. She couldn’t believe she’d ever been that naive.

Lou rolled them over so she lay on top of him this time. He petted her back, lulling her to do anything he wanted. God, he felt good.

She sighed and stroked him, tracing the vines to the skull with a heart in the center of his chest.

“Joey, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” She sat up, astride him, and stared, the sight of him going straight to her head.

“Have you done that before? Blown a guy, I mean?”

She tensed. “Why? Did I do something wrong?”

His smile seemed so gentle. “No, baby. Any more perfect, and I’d have had a heart attack.”

She relaxed.

“But you were a little tentative. That’s okay, especially because you and I are new. I just wondered. Not complaining at all,” he reassured her.

“Oh. No. I mean, I wanted to try it once, but the guy I was with was too nervous, so we didn’t.”

Lou groaned. “Your first blow job. You should have told me. I’d have been less rough.”

“I liked it.”

Lou relaxed. “Yeah, you did. You like it a little rough. Good.”

She cleared her throat, not wanting to ask but asking anyway. “You sure it was okay?”

He rolled her over so fast, she saw stars. “Uh-uh. You don’t get to second-guess yourself. It was so good, all I can think of is a way to get hard so we can do it again. Maybe a sixty-nine.” His eyes narrowed. “Ever tried that?”

She blushed. “No.”

He seemed intrigued, not put off. “Tell me. What exactly have you tried? I get the feeling you’re not that experienced when it comes to sex.”

“I’m not. Sadly.”

He laughed. “I can fix that.”

“I, well, this is embarrassing.”

“No, Joey. Don’t feel bad about anything. Not with me.” He radiated sincerity, so she couldn’t help but agree.

“I’ve had regular sex when I’ve had it. Um, missionary, I think, is the word. And once from behind, before you. But I didn’t like it, and the guy came and left before I realized it was over. Mostly sex has been not so great. I didn’t think I liked it or was good at it until you.”

He shook his head. “I get the impression the guys you were with didn’t care about making it good for you. Just so they got theirs.”

“Pretty much.”

He said something in Spanish that sounded like a swear. “Those losers didn’t deserve you. A good lover sees to his woman. You first, me second. Watching you come gets me hard, gets me off, you want the truth. I love going down on you. Love sucking those pretty nipples.” He palmed one as he spoke. “Your body is a miracle. So soft yet strong. When I’m in you”—he paused, staring straight into her eyes—“it’s perfection. And no, before you ask, I don’t say this to every woman. Just you, Joey. Just you.”

He kissed her before she could say anything, and then she lost herself in Lou. And, surprise, surprise, he didn’t need as much time as he’d thought to get ready for her again. But this time he let her put the condom on, and she learned something else new. That preparing for safe sex could be just as much fun as having it…if the guy telling her how to get ready happened to be Lou.

* * *

By the time they’d finished pleasuring each other, it was time for Joey to go.

“Man, time flies when you’re making love,” Lou teased and hugged her tight, standing with her in the living room. They’d both dressed, unfortunately, and she kept putting off leaving.

“I have to go.” She brushed his hair off his forehead, and he leaned down so she could kiss him. “Wish I could stay longer.”

“Me too.”

His stare unnerved her.

“What?”

In a quiet voice, he asked, “Joey, you aren’t seeing someone else, are you?”

“No. Why?”

He looked relieved as he let her step back. A good thing, because she needed the distance. “It’s just, I can sense you’re holding things back.”

Brandon. “I know.” She wiped a hand over her face. “I can’t… I’m not trying to lie, but I… My life is complicated. I’m not dating anyone else. I don’t have a boyfriend, husband, or lover. Well, except you.”

His serious expression turned into a warm smile. “I love when you turn pink. You do it a lot, you know?”

“I know.” She wished she could turn off her emotions sometimes.

“But you’re adorable.”

She glared. “Cute?”

“I meant sexy. Fine. Motherfuckin’ hot as hell. Better?”

She tried not to laugh. “A little.”

Lou watched her gather her things as she readied to leave. “Hey, you didn’t get anything to eat.” He glanced down at himself. “Well, besides me.”

“Lou.”

He chuckled. “Seriously. Take the pie. I made it for you.”

“You did?” She stared.

“Well, no. Actually I bought it from NCB. They have a new place they get some of their baked goods from. It’s peach cobbler.”

“Oh. I could take a slice.”

“You’ll take the whole thing. I don’t do sugar.”

“So why the pie?”

He handed the box to her. “Because you like sweets. Sweets for my sweet.” He grinned. “Clichéd, right?”

“A little. But still…sweet.” She laughed and kissed his cheek. Until he turned his face and met her mouth with a hungry one of his own.

Breathless and once again ready to have sex—make love—with the beautiful man, she forced herself to step back. “I—I—” She shook her head. “Stop kissing me. I can’t think when you do that.”

“Good to know,” he said in a smoky voice.

“Lou.” She laughed. “I have to leave.”

“I know.” He made a sad face and walked her to the door. “So when do I see you again?”

“I’m not sure.” Brandon had soccer on Wednesday. Maybe she could drop him off for practice? Get a ride home for him with someone else? “Wednesday might work.” She should tell him about Brandon. Get it out in the open.

And then he might not want to see her again, thinking she was looking for a new baby daddy. And there was Brandon to consider. As much as she was coming to care for Lou, she had her son to protect.

No, not yet.

“Joey?” Lou watched her.

“I’ll call or text you. Okay?”

He nodded, kissed her again, then walked her outside to her car wearing nothing but jeans.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“With you by my side? Princesa, I’m burning up.”

She shook her head. “Typical man. I can see you’re freezing.” She leaned closer. “Your nipples are like little pebbles.”

He grinned. “That’s from you, not the cold. Like when I suck on yours, and they get so firm and wet. And then I slip my hand down your belly to—”

She slapped a hand over his mouth. “Shush.”

His laughing eyes made her reconsider the idea of deepening their relationship, wanting more with this man. Who the heck was she fooling? She liked Lou? Of course she did. She just feared she was coming to like him a lot more than she should. On a downward slope toward that other l-word for sure.

“I have to go.”

“So go.” He took her hand and kissed it. “I will see you this week.”

“Yes,” she said on a sigh. Then she got into her car and left, not looking back, because if she did, she would call Becky and ask for another hour. And that she couldn’t afford if she wanted to go into work not walking funny in the morning.

* * *

Lou watched her leave, then turned around, headed back inside, and, after locking up, sought his bed. He dropped onto it like a sack of used-up man.

He groaned and stared up at the ceiling, his entire body one huge mass of relief. Fuck. He’d come so hard so many times. He hadn’t planned to make their evening just about sex. But Joey wanted to do so much. It was like she’d been locked away for years and now finally had the sexual freedom to live a little.

Part of him felt bad for her, that she hadn’t experienced an orgasm with a man until him, a sad tidbit she’d shared after their last coming together. The other part was ecstatic. He’d been her first blow job. Her first sixty-nine. God. The first one to give her an orgasm.

With that came a sense of responsibility. A need to make things right so—

Bullshit.

He hated lying to himself, and he refused to start now.

He didn’t feel responsible for the woman. He liked her. He liked her a lot. In fact, he thought he might…love her.

And how did he know that? Because he flat-out recognized that woman was lying to him about someone else being in her life. Yet he’d made love to her anyway. Like a sickness, she’d invaded his mind, his blood. Being with her, touching her, seeing her smile made the world go away so that nothing existed but Joey.

So young yet so old. He hadn’t been bothered by their age difference, and he knew why. Because she had a maturity to her that typical twenty-four-year-olds didn’t have. Unlike Stella, just a year younger than Joey, Joey didn’t have tunnel vision. She had her sights set on the future.

He’d worried that he might be growing too attached, so he’d given her the no-kids speech up front. And while his lips had been flapping, he’d been envisioning kids with Joey. Actual children who would grow up with her as a mom, him as a dad.

Totally wacked-out bullshit. And then he’d confessed wanting to come inside her, had put his hand on her belly and could easily imagine new life there, a seed he’d planted.

Total craziness. He knew it. But that didn’t stop some part of him from wanting more from her. That she hadn’t argued or tried to reason him into wanting children had annoyed him. Why shouldn’t she want him to commit more to her? Because she didn’t plan on committing more to him?

He rubbed his eyes, tired and sated and confused.

What did he want from the woman? She’d fucking swallowed. And he’d nearly had a transcendental moment during his orgasm. A moment in time where everything was perfect, including the woman at his feet.

Maybe his favorite new position—Joey on her knees, loving him. He’d seen her pleasure and knew she hadn’t been making it up to get him off. She’d genuinely loved making him feel good. Because Joey was like that. Giving, sweet, kind, and a closet sexual submissive begging for dominance.

Lou didn’t live the lifestyle or anything. He just liked bossing a woman in bed. And Joey loved being bossed. She could handle his tenderness if he showed her she mattered on another level. Her inexperience in bed baffled him. A woman as beautiful as Joey should have had a lot of boyfriends, at least a few lovers to show her what to do with a man.

But when he let her take charge, even a little bit, she seemed unsure, hesitant. Her mouth over his cock had been heaven, no lie, but her strokes had been learning. Not practiced.

And yeah, he was a prick because even that got him off about her, that she had little experience until she’d been with him.

He groaned. “Why me?”

No one answered him, and why should they? The powers that be had given him love all his life. Granted, a high-maintenance, all-encompassing feminine love, but a love all the same. He’d always known he mattered to his family. And not just because they took care of him. His abuela loved him no matter what. She’d been his rock through most of his life. His mama cared for him as best she could, loving unconditionally. And his sisters might complain about him, but they knew he’d move mountains to help them, the same as they’d do for him.

Poor Joey didn’t seem to come from the same supportive family. He was dying to know more about her, but she kept herself closed off. Why?

What the hell was she hiding?

Lou didn’t do married women or women with boyfriends. Might not be a ring on her finger, but he respected a close relationship. He never wanted to be the “other guy,” especially having seen his mother in the role of the “other woman” a few times in her life.

Yet for Joey, he’d pushed all that to the side, anything to have her in his arms again.

He exhaled on a moan. Scared because he thought he might love her. He didn’t know why, didn’t know how it had happened, and so soon. But it had.

Now what to do about it and how to make her trust him with more than her body but with her heart and secrets as well?